Biophysical properties of the neck skin indicating potential complications of salvage surgery for laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer

Background Chemoradiation therapy is standard practice for hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer, but its impact on skin health can cause complications if salvage surgery is required. Aims/Objectives To develop simple objective indices for the early detection of complications following head-and-neck salvage surgery. Material and Methods Preoperatively and on postoperative days 1, 3, 5 and 7, we measured skin hardness (N), interstitial liquid content (n) and intracellular liquid content (W) as biophysical properties in patients who underwent post-CRT salvage therapy and those who underwent total organ resection without CRT as controls. We then analyzed these data in relation to occurrence of complications. Results In 11 patients undergoing salvage surgery and 23 controls, complications tended to be higher (p = .54) in the salvage group. N values were significantly higher in the salvage and complication groups on days 5 and 7, n values were higher in the complication group on day 7, and W values were lower in the complication group on day 3 and in the salvage group preoperatively and on days 1 and 5. Conclusions and significance N, n and W are useful measurements for the early identification of patients likely to develop complications.